Display device simulating an object in flight



Nov. 18, 1958 A. KosT ET AL 2,850,434

DISPLAY DEVICE SIMULATING AN OBJECT 1N FLIGHT Filed Sept. 3, 1957 2 Sheets-Shea?I l @y 24 5 IN1/EN TOR.

HLW/N /fosr BY Gmo Ralph QU/L/c/ @'2 y 5m/CWM x97 7' ORNE Y Nov. 18, 1958 A. KosT ErAL DISPLAY DEVICE SIMULATING AN OBJECT IN FLIGHT Filed sept. s, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 nrsrrav nevica SIMULMING AN OBJECT 1N v FLIGHT iwiu Kost and Gino Ralph Quilici, Portland, Greg., assignors to fiest Multiple X, Inc., Portland, Greg., a corporation of @regen Application September 3, 1957, Serial No. 681,786

9 Claims. (Cl. Llll- 106.313)

This invention relates to mechanical movements used to simulate the movements of an object in ight.

By way of illustration this mechanism is shown as applied to a winged horse but it will be understood that the same may be applied to a figure of a bird or any other object conceived to have wings for the purpose of flight.

An object of this invention is to provide a simple, efficient and inexpensive mechanism consisting of relatively few parts for simultaneously imparting to a winged figure a rocking movement of the body and a movement of the wings similar to the wing movement of a bird in flight.

Another object is to provide a mechanical movement used in connection with a winged figure in such a manner as to tilt the figure up at the front and down at the rear as the wings are moving rearwardly and to reversely tilt the figure down at the front and up at the rear as the wings are moving forwardly thus imparting to the ligure a very realistic illusion of flight.

Other objects of this invention will be apparent'from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

ln the drawings Figure l is a view partly in vertical section and partly in elevation showing this mechanical movement applied to the winged figure of a horse.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view in cross section taken substantially on broken line 2 2 of Fig. 1 and on a larger scale than Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in cross section taken substantially on bro-ken line 3 3 of Fig. l and on a larger scale than Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view in cross section taken substantially on broken line 4 4 of Fig. 1 and on a larger scale than Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing parts of universal joint and eccentric devices used in the structure `shown in the preceding figures.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view partly in cross section and partly in elevation taken substantially on broken line 6 6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view partly in section and partly in elevation taken substantially on broken line 7 7 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a detached fragmentary view showing a counterweighted wing ca1rying arm which may be used in connection with this invention.

Fig. 9-is a fragmentary view partly in vertical section and partly in elevation showing a modified form of this invention.

Fig. l is a view in vertical section, with parts in elevation, of another modified form of this invention.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary sectional view, with parts omitted, looking in the direction of broken line 11 11 of Fig. 1G.

Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.

The display device shown in Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive comprises upright tubular support 12 mounted on a base 'ice member 13 and having on its upper end a sleeve 14 which l is integral with or rigidly secured to an upwardly extendshaft 16, see Fig. 2.

ing U-shaped fork or bracket 15. A horizontal shaft 16 extends crosswise of and is journaled in the upper end portions of the U-shaped bracket 15. A driven shaft 17 extends upwardly through the upright tubular support 12 and is journaled in said tubular support by bushings 18. A thrust collar 19 is secured on the shaft 17 below the lower end of the tubular support 12. The end portion of the shaft 17 which protrudes upwardly into the U-shaped bracket 15 is provided with a washer 20, an eccentric disc 21 and a bevel gear 22. A flange 23 is provided on the upper end of the eccentric disc 21 and a cylindrical bearing sleeve 24 is operatively disposed on said eccentric disc 21 between the flange 23 and the washer 20. The bearing sleeve 24, Figs 4 and 5, has spaced apart anges 25 which are connected by a pivot pin 26 with a bearing block 27. A forked bracket 28 is connected by bearing pins 29 with said bearing block 27, the axis common to the pins 29 being at right angles to the axis of the pin 26 so that some universal movement is provided. The forked bracket 28 is further connected by a bearing pin 30 with adjoining ends of an upper forked toggle member 31 and a lower forked toggle member 32. The lower end of the toggle member 32 is connected by a pivot pin 33 with spaced apart arms 34 of a collar 35. The collar 35 is rigidly secured to the sleeve 14 which fits over and is supported by the tubular upright support 12. The upper end of the upper toggle member 31 is pivotally connected by av cross pin 36 with a display device or figure herein shown to be a figure of a horse made up of two parts 37 and 38. The parts 37 and 38 are secured together by screws or bolts 4t) and are pivoted for rocking movement on the Spacer members 41, Fig. 3, are provided on the cross pin 36 between bracket 31 and the re spective parts 37 and 38 of the display device. Rotation of the shaft 17 will reciprocably move the forked bracket 28 thus angularly moving the toggle members 31 and 32 and imparting a rocking motion to the display device 37, 38 about the axis of the shaft 16.

The bevel gear 22 meshes with another bevel gear 42 which is fixedly secured on the shaft 16. The shaft 16 further has a spur gear 43 iixedly secured thereto. The spur gear 43 meshes with another spur gear 44 which is disposed between the two sides of a bracket 45 and between two discs 46 and 47 which fit rotatively within circular openings 48 in the bracket 45. The bracket 45 is fxedly secured to at least one side of the display device 37, 38 by screws 50. The discs 46 and 47 are ixedly secured to the spur gear 44 by screws 51 and preferably each of said discs 46 and 47 has a hub 52 which tits within an axial opening 53 in the spur gear 44 to accurately center the disc relative to the spur gear.

Each disc 46 and 47 has an opening 54 therein to receive a ball 55 on the end of a lever arm 56. The two openings 54 are aligned with each other. Each lever arm 56 extends outwardly from the disc 46 or 47 with which it is connected and through a ball 57. Each ball 57 is supported for universal pivotal movement within a socket formed partly in the wall of the display device and partly in a bracket plate 58 which is secured to the display device. Each lever arm 56 has an arm oscillating pin 60 rigid therewith and extending at right angles therefrom and each pin 60 terminates in a ball 61 which is positioned between two spaced apart flanges 62. The flanges 62 are rigid with one of the xed bracket plates 58. Rotation of the discs 46 and 47 will move the lever arms S6 in conical paths and the pins 60 will simultaneously oscillate these arms on their own axes. A wing member 63 is rigidly secured to the outer end portion of each lever arm 46 and preferably is positioned approximately at right angles thereto.

If the wing members 63 are of substantial weight 1t may be desirable to counterbalance this weight to reduce vibration and-provide smoother operation. Fig. 8 shows one way of doing this by rigidly securing a counterweight 56 on the inner end portion of each wing carrying arm 56.

In the operation ofthe device disclosed in Figs. l to 7 inclusive when the shaft 17 is rotated it will operate through the eccentric 21 and the devices connecting the same to the toggle brackets 31 and 32 to impart rocking movement about the axis of the shaft 16 to the display device. At the same time rotary movement is transmitted through gears 22, 42, 43 and 44 to the two discs 46 and 47 for the purpose of moving the wings. The rotation of the dises 46 and 47 causes the wing carrying lever arms 56 to move in conical paths and while they are thus being moved in conical paths the arm oseillating pins 60 will oscillate these arms 56 on their own axes. The combination of these movements imparts to the wings 63 movements which combine with the rocking movement of the body 37, 38 to pro-duce a realistic appearance of Hight. These movements are synchronized so that the body is tilted up at the front and down at the rear as the wings are moving rearwardly and is tilted in the reverse direction as the wings are moving forwardly. The wings are positioned on the lever arms S6 so that clearance is allowed for the movements of said wings.

Fig. 9 shows movement imparting means of modified form for imparting a rocking movement to a display device. The mechanism shown in Fig. 9 for providing this rocking movement has the advantage of being shorter and more compact than that shown in Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive. In said Fig. 9 the tubular support 12, shaft 17, bushing 18, washer 20, bevel gear 22, shaft 16 and gearwheels 43 and 44 are the same as the correspondingly numbered parts of Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive, hereinbefore described. The bevel gear 22 drives the shaft 16 through another bevel gear, not shown in Fig. 9, but which is similar to the bevel gear 42 of Fig. 2.

The shaft 16 is supported by a U shaped bracket 70 having an integral sleeve 71 mounted on the tubular support 12. The bracket 70 and sleeve 71 are similar to the previously described parts 14 and 15. An eccentric disc 72, similar to the previously described disc 21, is secured to the shaft 16 alongside of the gearwheel 43 and a cylindrical bearing member 73 is mounted on said eccentric disc 72. The bearing member 73 has a rigid arm 74 extending radially therefrom. The outer end of the arm 74 is -connected by a pivot 75 with the adjoining ends of two toggle links 76 and 77. The upper end of the link 76 is connected by a pivot member 78 with a winged figure 79 similar to the winged figure formed by the parts 37 and 38 of Figs. 1, 2 and 3, previously described. The lower end of the link 77 is connected by a pivot member 80 with an arm l'which is rigid with the collar 71 and which corresponds to the arm 34 of Fig. l.

`The mechanism shown in Fig. 9 and just described is more compact that the corresponding mechanism shown in Figs. l to 7. It will provide the same rocking movement of the gure 79 about the axis of the shaft 16 and it will cooperate with the previously described devices for moving the wing carrying members in conical paths and rotatively on their own axes.

When the body of the winged ligure is of large enough size then an electric motor may be mounted within this body for imparting movement to the wings and body. Such a structure is shown in Figs. l and ll wherein we show a motorSZ mounted on an extension 85 of a bracket 85 which is mounted on an upright tubular post 86. A hollow body 83, similar to the body formed by the parts 37 and 38 of Fig. 1, is supported for rocking movement on a cross shaft 84. The shaft 84 is mounted in the bracket 85 and corresponds to the cross shaft 16 of Figs. l, 2 and 9. The hollow body 83 is large enough internally to be clear of the motor 82.

The shaft 84 has a worm wheel 88 xedly mounted thereon and a worm 89 on the shaft 90 of the motor 82 meshes with the worm wheel 88 for driving the shaft 84. Also a gearwheel 91 is rigidly mounted on the shaft 84 and meshes with another gearwheel 92. The gearwheels 91 and 92 correspond to the gearwheels 43 and 44 of Figs. l and 2 and function in the same manner.

An eccentric member 93 is secured to the shaft 84 adjacent the gearwheel 91. The eccentric member 93 is connected by a bearing sleeve 94 and arm 95 with the common pivot 96 of two toggle links 97 and 98. The upper end of the upper toggle link 97 is connected by a pivot 99 with the body or figure 83. The lower end of the lower link 98 is connected by a pivot member 100 with a flange 101 which is rigid with the bracket 85. The parts 91 to 101 inclusive operate in the same manner as the previously described parts 73 to 78, 80 and 81 of Fig. 9 to provide rocking movement of the body 83. Electrical conductors represented by cable 102 extend through tubular post 86 into the body 83 to supply electric current to the motor 82 and to lamps or any other electrically actuated devices which may be placed in said body 83.

In all of the disclosed forms of this invention the display object is pivotally mounted on an upright support for rocking movement on a generally horizontal axis; substantially all of the operating mechanism is housed and concealed within the display object; the wings are movably mounted on the object and power operated devices are provided for rocking the object and simultaneously moving the wings relative to the object; the wing mounting shafts are moved in conical paths and are simultaneously oscillated on their own axes; the eccentric and gear means used for imparting movement to the body and wings is designed and synchronized so that the front end of the object is tilting downwardly as the wings are moving forwardly and said front end is tilting upwardly as the wings are moving rearwardly. This movement coupled with the gyrating wing movement resulting from conically moving the wing mounting shafts and the up and down wing movement resulting from the oscillation of the wing mounting shafts on their axes imparts to the display ligure a very realistic illusion of flying.

The foregoing description and accompanying drawing clearly discloses preferred embodiments of this invention but it will be understood that changes in the same may be made within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

l. In a display device simulating an object in flight, a support; a flight display object mounted for rocking movement on a generally horizontal axis on said support; wings pivotally mounted on said object; and power operated means connected with said object and said wings -capable of rocking said object and simultaneously moving said wings relative to the object in simulation of Hight'.

2. In display devices simulating an object in flight, a support; a flight display object mounted for rocking movement on a generally horizontal axis on said support, said flight display object having a forward part and a rear part; wings pivotally mounted on said object for movement forwardly and rearwardly relative to the object; and power operated means connected with said object and said wings providing downward tilting movement of the forward part and upward tilting movement of the rear part of the object while the wings are moving forwardly relative to the object and upward tilting movement of the forward part and downward tilting movement of the rear part of the object while the wings are movmg rearwardly relative to the object.

3. In display devices simulating an object in flight, a

support; an upright driven shaft carried by said support; a ight display object mounted for rocking movement on a substantially horizontal axis on said support; movement transmitting means connecting said shaft with said object providing rocking movement of said object when said shaft is rotating; wings movably mounted on said object and extending in opposite directions therefrom; and wing moving means connected with said wings and driven from said shaft providing movement of said wings relative to said object as said object is rockingly moved relative to said support.

4. In display devices simulating an object in flight, a support; an upright driven shaft carried by said support; a flight display object mounted for rocking movement on a substantially horizontal axis on said support; movement transmitting means connecting said object with said driven shaft providing rocking movement of said object when said driven shaft is rotating; two wing carrying shafts pivotally supported by said object and extending outwardly from opposite sides of the object; a wing secured to each of said wing carrying shafts outwardly from the object; and means connecting each wing carrying shaft with said driven shaft providing movement in conical paths of the wing carrying shafts synchronously with the rocking movement of said object.

5. In display devices simulating an object in flight, a support; a substantially horizontal shaft carried by said support; a flight display object mounted for rocking movement on a substantially horizontal axis on said support; shaft driving means connected with said substantially horizontal shaft; object rocking means connecting said driving means with said object providing rocking movement 0f said object when said substantially horizontal shaft is being driven; two wing mounting shafts pivotally supported by said object and extending in opposite directions therefrom; means connected with said substantially horizontal shaft imparting movement in conical paths to said wing mounting shafts when said horizontal shaft is being driven; devices oscillating said wing mounting shafts on their own axes when they are moved in conical paths; and a wing xedly attached to the outer end portion of each of said wing mounting shafts.

6. In display devices simulating an object in flight, a support; a substantially horizontal shaft carried by said support; a flight display object mounted for rocking movement on a substantially horizontal axis on said support; shaft driving means connected with said substantially horizontal shaft; object rocking means connecting said shaft driving means with said object providing rocking movement of said object when said substantially horizontal shaft is driven; two wing mounting shafts positioned above said substantially horizontal shaft and extending in opposite directions outwardly from the respective sides of said object; ball type pivot means carried by said object pivotally supporting each wing mounting shaft intermediate its two ends; means connecting said wing mounting shafts with said substantially horizontal shaft imparting movement in conical paths to said wing mounting shafts in response to rotation of said substantially horizontal shaft; a lever arm extending transversely from each wing mounting shaft adjacent the `ball type pivot support thereof; brackets fixed to the object and engaged by the outer end portions of the lever arms providing angular oscillating movement of each wing mounting shaft on its axis when said wing mounting shaft is moved in a conical path; and a wing xedly attached to the outer end portion of each wing mounting shaft.

7. In display devices simulating an object in flight; a support; a flight display object mounted for rocking movement on a substantially horizontal axis on said support; a substantially horizontal shaft journaled in said support; shaft driving means connected with said substantially horizontal shaft; object rocking means connecting said substantially horizontal shaft with said object providing rocking movement of said object when said substantially horizontal shaft is driven; two wing mounting shafts pivotally supported by said object and extending substantially crosswise thereof and protruding in opposite directions therefrom; a ball on the inner end of each of said wing mounting shafts; a gearwheel rotatively mounted coaxially of the pivotal supports of said wing mounting shafts adjacent the inner ends of said shafts and having off center receptacles receiving the balls on the inner ends of said wing mounting shafts; another gearwheel on said substantially horizontal shaft meshing with the gearwheel which receives said balls, whereby said wing mounting shafts will be moved in conical paths when said gearwheels are driven; devices oscillating said wing mounting shafts on their axes when they are moved in conical paths; and a wing fixedly attached to the outer end portion of each of said wing mounting shafts.

8. In display devices simulating an object in flight; a support; a flight display object mounted for rocking movement on a generally horizontal axis on said support; a driven shaft rotatively carried by said support; an eccentric having a driving connection with said driven shaft; two toggle links having two adjoining ends which are pivotally connected with said eccentric and having their other ends pivotally connected respectively with said object and with said support, whereby operation of said eccentric will impart a rocking movement to said object; wings carried by and pivotally mounted on said object; and wing moving devices connecting said wings with said driven shaft, whereby rotation of said driven shaft will impart to said wings a movement having a forward and a rearward component relative to said object simultaneously with the rocking movement of said object.

9. In display devices simulating an object in Hight, a ight display object; a support extending upwardly into said flight display object; a substantially horizontal shaft carried by said support mounting said display object :for rocking movement on said support; shaft driving means connected with said substantially horizontal shaft; an eccentric driven by said shaft driving means; two toggle links having adjoining ends pivotally connected with said eccentric and having other ends which are pivotally connected respectively with said object and said support, whereby operation of said eccentric will impart a rocking movement to said object; two wing mounting shafts positioned above and generally parallel with said substantially horizontal shaft and extending in opposite directions from the medial plane of the object outwardly to the eX- terior of said object; ball type pivot means carried by said object pivotally supporting each wing mounting shaft intermediate its two ends; a ball on the inner end of each of said wing mounting shafts; a gearwheel rotatively mounted coaxially of the pivotal supports of said wing mounting shafts adjacent the inner ends of said wing mounting shafts and having off center receptacles receiving the balls on the inner ends of said wing mounting shafts; another gearwheel on said substantially horizontal shaft meshing with the gearwheel which receives -said balls, whereby said wing mounting shafts will be moved in conical paths when said gearwheels are driven; a lever arm rigid with and extending transversely from each wing mounting shaft adjacent the pivotal support thereof; ybrackets fixed to the display object and engaged by the outer end portions of the lever arms providing angular oscillating movement of each wing mounting shaft on its axis when the wing mounting shaft is moved in a conical path; and a wing xedly attached to the outer end portion of each wing mounting shaft.

No references cited. 

